* CONSONANT CHARTS

VOICING groups consonants in one of two categories. Voiced consonants engage the vocal cords. Voiceless consonants employ air flow without vocalized tone.
Bilabial Labiodental Dental and Alveolar Prepalatal and Palatal Velar Glottal
Voiceless [p], [ʍ] when [f] [I] thin, [t], [s] [G] sheep, [tG] chair, [1] hue [k], [U] GR ach [h], [ʔ] each
Voiced [b], [w], [m] [v] [J] them, [d], [z] [F] vision, [dF] judge, [j] yes [g]
[n], [l], rolled [r], flipped [ɾ], retroflex [ɹ] [Q] IT signore, [3] IT gli [E] sing
POINT OF ARTICULATION identifies the formation of each consonant by indicating the point of contact or near point of contact made by the articulators.
Points of Articulation English Italian German French
Bilabial [bAN'lDNbiBl]
[p] [b] [m] [ʍ][w] [p] [b] [m] [w] [p] [b] [m] [p] [b] [m] [w]
Refers to the lips
Labiodental [lDNbio'dDntBl]
[f] [v] [f] [v] [f] [v] [pf] [f] [v]
Involves the lower lip and the upper row of teeth
Dental ['dDntBl] [t] [d] [s] [z] [l] [t] [d] [s] [z]
[I] [J] [s] [z] [l]
Involves the tongue tip and the back of the upper row of teeth [n] [ɾ] [r] [ts] [dz] [l] [n] [ɾ]
Alveolar [ʔWl'viBlBɹ] [t] [d] [s] [z]
[t] [d] [n] [ɾ] [ts]
Involves the tongue tip and the ridge behind the upper teeth [l] [n] [ɾ] [ɹ]
Prepalatal [pɹi'pWlBtBl] [G] [tG] [dF] [G] [F]
[G] [F] [tG] [dF] [G] [tG]
Involves the tongue and area between the alveolar ridge and hard palate [j] [Q] [3] [j] [Q] [P]
Palatal ['pWlBtBl]
[j] [j] [1]
Involves a middle arch of the tongue and the hard palate
Velar ['vilBɹ]
[k] [g] [E] [k] [g] [E] [k] [g] [E] [U] [k] [g]
Involves a back arch of the tongue and the soft palate
Glottal ['glAtBl]
[ʔ] [h] [ʔ] [h]
Involves the air flow and the opening between the vocal cords
MANNER OF ARTICULATION describes how air moves past the articulators during the enunciation of a consonant.
Manner of Articulation English Italian German French
Stop [stAp] A momentary closure of the air flow passage [p] [b] [t] [d] [p] [b] [t] [d] [p] [b] [t] [d] [p] [b] [t] [d]
Plosive ['ploLsNv] A stop released without aspiration (for Italian & French) [k] [g] [ʔ] [k] [g] [k] [g] [ʔ] [k] [g]
Fricative ['fɹNkBtNv] [f] [v] [s] [z] [ʍ] [f] [v] [s] [z] [G] [f] [v] [s] [z] [f] [v] [s] [z]
Produced by directing the air flow past a set of articulators [G] [F] [h] [I] [J] [G] [h] [1] [U] [G] [F]
Affricate ['ʔWfɹNkBt]
[tG] [dF] [ts] [dz] [tG] [dF] [tG] [pf] [ts]
A stop or plosive that is followed by a fricative
Nasal ['nDNzBl]
[m] [n] [E] [m] [n] [E] [Q] [m] [n] [E] [m] [n] [Q]
Produced by directing vocalized tone through the nasal passages
Lateral ['lWtBɹBl]
[l] [l] [3] [l] [l]
Produced by directing vocalized tone over the sides of the tongue
Glide [glANd]
[j] [w] [j] [w] [j] [j] [w] [P]
Produced by directing vocalized tone past the articulators without friction
Trill [tɹNl]
[ɾ] [ɾ] [r] [ɾ] [ɾ]
Formed by taps of the tongue tip against the alveolar ridge and/or teeth
Retroflex ['ɹDtɹoLflDks]
Produced with rounded lips and the tongue tip curled up [ɹ]
* From the Lyric Diction Workbook Series by Cheri Montgomery, published by S.T.M. Publishers www.stmpublishers.com